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Subject of 'Serial' podcast makes case to appeals court

Adnan Syed, the man at the center of the "Serial" podcast, could be getting a new trial.

Subject of 'Serial' podcast makes case to appeals court

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Updated: 10:41 AM EDT Mar 24, 2015

BALTIMORE —

The convicted killer at the center of the popular podcast "Serial" is making his case that an appeals court should toss his conviction because his lawyer failed to interview an alibi witness and never inquired about the possibility of a plea deal.

An attorney for Adnan Syed, now 34, filed a brief Monday with the Maryland Court of Special Appeals, which has agreed to take up Syed's case.

Syed was at the center of the wildly popular podcast that raised questions about the integrity of the case, the fairness of the trial and his guilt.

Prosecutors maintain that Syed strangled his former high school sweetheart Hae Min Lee in 1999 after the two broke up and she began dating someone else. Syed, who was 17 at the time of Lee's death, has been in prison since 2000, serving a life sentence.

The Court of Special Appeals agreed to hear Syed's appeal in February after two unsuccessful attempts.

The basis of Syed's appeal is that his former lawyer, Christina Gutierrez, failed to interview Asia McClain, a student at Syed's school who said she was with him in the library at the approximate time of Lee's death. McClain had written to Syed after his arrest, offering to speak with investigators and his attorney. In her letters, McClain also mentioned two other witnesses who said they saw Syed at the library. But Gutierrez, who was later disbarred by consent after questions arose about her handling of client funds, never interviewed McClain nor called her as a witness.

"It is hard to imagine that Gutierrez could have done anything worse than failing to pick up the phone and call Syed's witness," Syed's appeals attorney, Justin Brown, wrote in the filing.

"It kind of brought life back to the case and reinforces that my brother is innocent," Yusuf Syed said.

The legal brief to Syed's appeal focuses mostly on McClain, the Woodlawn High School classmate of Syed.

McClain said she had a 15-20 minute conversation with him at the Woodlawn Public Library, during the same time of day the state believes Adnan Syed killed Lee. Her body was found in Leakin Park.

McClain wrote two letters to Syed shortly after his arrest, offering her help.

"I will try my best to help you account for some of your unwitnessed, unaccountable lost time...Maybe it will give your side of the story a head start."

"If you were in the library for a while tell the police and I'll continue to tell what I know even louder than I am. My boyfriend and his best friend remember seeing you there too."

"I guess that inside I know you're innocent too."

Yusuf Syed said he never asked Adnan if he remembers talking to her.

"No, I never asked him. I know that sounds strange, but yeah," Yusuf Syed said.

Adnan Syed showed the letters to Gutierrez. According to the brief, she told Syed she talked to McClain, but "nothing came of it." It turns out that McClain later said no one contacted her.

"We were all -- my parents were very intimidated by Cristina Gutierrez, extremely intimated by her," Yusuf Syed said.

Yusuf Syed said whatever Gutierrez said went right away.

Syed then grew worried about his fate, so he wanted a plea deal. According to the brief, Gutierrez lied to Syed when she said the prosecution wouldn't offer a plea deal. The brief said at a post-conviction hearing, the prosecutors testified they were never approached about a deal.

Syed was convicted largely on the testimony of one of his friends, Jay Wilds, who said he helped Syed bury Lee's body.

"One option, trial, was fatally undermined by the failure of trial counsel to conduct even the most basic investigation: picking up the phone and calling an alibi witness. The other option, a plea bargain, was eliminated for reasons that, quite frankly, are impossible to comprehend."

Additionally, Brown argues that Gutierrez told Syed that prosecutors would not offer him a plea deal when in fact she never inquired as to whether one was on the table.

Brown characterized Syed's former lawyer's failure to inquire about a possible plea deal and interview a potentially crucial alibi witness as running "deeper than the typical error or omission that is considered under the umbrella of 'effective assistance of counsel.'"

"It not only violates something fundamental to the trial process," Brown wrote, "but it violates the duty of loyalty that is at the heart of attorney-client relationship ... his lawyer effectively stopped representing him."

The attorney general's office, which is prosecuting the case, declined to comment Monday.

Oral arguments are expected to be scheduled for June.

The state attorney general's office declined to comment on this brief Monday. It will file a response brief soon.